Mrs. Melson’s students practice creative thinking again this week by thinking of “never-before-thought-of” uses for plastic grocery bags. The students came up with amazingly creative ideas, and they were encouraged to think about how the bags could be cut, twisted, tied together, etc. to create even more great ideas.
Second graders worked on another map mystery this week. After reading this story, students worked with a partner to match up suspects with their states based on the area codes found on a list. Students used an area code map of the United States. Students also used the alphanumeric buttons on a telephone keypad to deduce the complete phone numbers of the suspects.
Later in the week, students used the ipads to practice using number lines. Some students worked on the relatively basic skill of jumping forward and jumping backward on a number line. Other students worked to find the place where given two-digit numbers should go on number lines. These were especially difficult because they were marked with various increments, and most students are used to seeing only increments of one. A small group of students also worked with me to decide whether to use addition or subtraction to solve word problems. Second graders used a map and a story to solve a mystery this week. In the story someone had stolen a spider, Big Bertha, from the spider case at the zoo. Students carefully read each suspect’s statement and used the map to follow their movements around the zoo. They deduced who the guilty party was when his story was proven to be false.
Later in the week, students used the SmartBoard in my room to practice balancing equations. We are emphasizing the idea that students need the same amount on each side of the equals sign. Students are learning that they problem doesn’t necessarily have to be on one side with the answer on the other. There are many, many possibilities. After practicing together, students worked independently to determine if equations were correct or incorrect statements. |
Mrs. GregoryMrs. Gregory has been a teacher for 25 years. She lives in Montpelier with her husband, two daughters, and two dogs. Archives
January 2017
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